THERE IS NO MASTI, JUST HAVE POPCORNS AND FORGET ABOUT THE FILM!
By Pankaj Shukla
Critic's I-view
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Films those are talk of the town these days are those, which are making waves in, trade circles. Be it Veer Zaara of Yash Chopra, Rising of Ketan Mehta, Swadesh of Ashutosh Gowarikar and Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon of Anil Sharma, each films has been made with a budget that is round about to Rs. 30 crores ! However, between the tough lines that have been drawn by these big films are some films that sneak into the audience and leave some effect if not create ripples at the box office. Remember, Jhankar Beats? Producer Pritish Nandy is back again and this time with a campus movie, Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao! As the name itself suggests, the film is for teeny moviegoers who just want to freak out in cinema halls with cool buddies and friends. Cinema for them is not some serious thing, they don't want big lessons being taught whether about patriotism (read Swadesh and Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon) or some social message (read Veer Zaara here). Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao! has all the news faces including its director Kabir Sadanand. The fresh appeal goes in favor of the film. There is no big competition around and Pritish Nandy can feel luck for this situation, but all is not well if you don't have a story to get to the people.
Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao! is a happening film for some reasons. First it is set in the university campus. Some young people meet in college, they become friends and start sharing dreams and ups and downs of daily life. They eat together think together and plan for the future too together. They share their pains and their history and the bond grows stronger with each passing day. So we have a boy named Rahul (Akshay Kapoor) who wants to clinch the whole world in his fist. We have a bubbly girl Tania (Tanisha, kid sister of Kajol) who takes life as it comes to her and then we also have a cute girl Goldie (Rashmi Nigam) who just goes crazy about any thing.
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Life has been happy for all the three friends until Sonia (Jelena Jakovljevic) steps in to the scene. She is the babe of the town, every one goes crazy after seeing her and when it comes to boys, the seductive girl is the charm of the campus. She joins the band of three and becomes a part of the group. Everything is good for them, life is sailing smoothly but what's life without a little tension. Their goody goody story too takes some twists and turns that takes their journey to new horizons and on the horizons there is not always shining stars but darkness too.
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Producer Pritish Nandy has started a new kind of cinema in Bollywood. Being a veteran journalist, he is loaded with many off beat ideas. But it is not at all so easy to convert an idea into a good film. Pritish Nandy succeeded in his attempt in Jhankar Beats but his experiment in Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao! fails because he has not give equal attention to the story line. The need for the film was to have a story that could have made youngsters laugh, go crazy and even feel sad some times. But, these basic contents of any film is lacking in this movie. Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao! just follows a plain track and instead of creating moments to make people sit and watch, it goes all around the campus and outside too, but comes back again and again for where it takes its initial start.
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Kabir Sadanand who has also penned the story does has spark in him but making the film a merry go round where one character goes after second, second loving third and third in turn coming back to the first one for seeking love confuses a lot. The problems crated in the film are not easy to handle and Kabir being a debutant looses his grip on the emotions that were required for the script to come as a flow in the story line. Music directors Vishal and Shekhar do help in weaving all these happenings with their compositions and the songs seem good too but it is not easy to decorate a body that does not have soul in it.
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All the actors of the film are young new faces and rawness in them shows on screen. Kabir must have done some sort of class room training for them before commencing for actual shoot, may he did so but it needs more brushing then. Among all the four faces Akshay Kapoor leaves an impression with his looks and attitude. He dances well and even emotes well when it is required of him. He has more work to do before big filmmakers in Bollywood can notice him. Tanisha too shows improvement from her debut film Sssshhh.., but her appearances are still too childish to be taken as a lead heroine in the film. Rashmi Nigam is okay and the foreign girl Jelena Jakovljevic gives a tough fight to Shefalis and Deepals of Bollywood. Other actors like Yash Tonk and Deepak Tijori fail to leave any impression. Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao! may be have targeted at urban audiences but it has little to get clapping hands from them and if we talk about small centers, then it wasn't meant for those people.
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